Sweden, one of the countries that enjoy the highest levels of gender parity, has created an optimal environment for both men and women to share influence and power equally, thus leading to a fair, democratic, and just society. Actually, the country has undergone transition from a patriarchal society to the one that accepts both women and men as equals in political, social, and economic spheres.
Through impartiality in Sweden, everyone is required to balance family activities and profession, in order be able to manage family life and work in a proper way, as well as to be answerable to any type of ill-treatment.
There has been a tremendous change in the ways in which equality for both men and women is affected because before globalization, women had been considered as inferior to men, but after globalization, many legislative changes ensured that women and men were given equal treatment (Charmes 2008, p. 36).
Following globalization, the authority formulated a gender fairness policy, which guaranteed fair allotment of resources and empowerment between sexes, a good working backdrop that offered equal prospects in terms of resources and power. This is evident in the present political system where women constitute about forty-six percent of government ministers, whereas forty-five percent of females are parliamentarians.
This is a major milestone which differs the current political situation from that before globalization where women were subjected to political restrictions and had no political clout in the society. For instance, before 1921, women neither had a right to run any office or vote nor were allowed to succeed to the throne and head the government.
Before globalization, women were only considered as the second class citizens, whose role was only to offer comfort and support to men in politics or during their political endeavors. Furthermore, since women were not allowed to vote, it is evident that the society was male-dominated, discriminatory, and did not allow the oppressed part of population to express their opinion and fight for their rights.
The change in political representation where women and men are seen as equals has played a key role in enhancing equality in both workplaces and education. With increased numbers of women in parliament and government, the ladies managed to advocate and pushed for legislations that enhanced equal education and employment opportunities to both men and women (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel 2009, p. 105).
Since the advent of globalization, gender equality in schools has been enhanced. In Swedish preschools, the issue of women teaching is a widespread trend. The objective of gender awareness through education is to sensitize young generation with equal life prospects, irrespective of gender attachment, through instruction methods that allow every child to mature into a responsible person.
Gender fairness, a significant topic in highlighting social biases, is given great precedence throughout the unfinished education in order to organize children for higher education.
Given the fact that gender equity is considered as an essential social aspect in Sweden, nowadays, a greater percentage of women than men accomplish their secondary education compared to the fact that in pre globalization period, women were denied quality education because the education system favored men.
Currently, 60% of undergraduate students are women, and approximately, two-thirds of the degrees are awarded to the females. In addition, more women than men have enrolled for adult education. In postgraduate and doctoral levels of education, the gender distribution is equal.
Before globalization, education was a preserve of men, who used it as a weapon to discriminate against women and maintain their grip in social, economic and political arenas. Before globalization, families gave boys the first priority as they were considered strong and able to cater for family interests unlike girls who were groomed to be housewives, hence given minimal education opportunities (Ghose 2000, p. 88).
Sweden is one of the countries that have created a favorable environment for both men and women to work and develop their careers. Since the beginning of globalization, women and men are treated equally. With globalization, openness of economies to capital mobility and bilateral and multilateral trade has resulted in creation of employment and growth of real economies.
As s result, there has been changed in employment policies, most of which have favored equality, especially through employment of women. Legislation, particularly discrimination acts, has assisted Sweden in maintaining high levels of equality in workplaces. The act has two major categories. The first category offers directives that call for employers to adhere to goals that promote gender equity.
The second grouping involves policies that outlaw prejudice and force owners of the capital to take suitable measures against workplace persecution. As such, gender parity has been achieved as a result of these important laws and the citizen’s attitude towards workplace discrimination.
In addition, equity in workplaces has been enhanced by laws that promote parental leave for both men and women when a child is born or adopted.
This is important in strengthening family ties. Before globalization, women enjoyed very few rights. The existing social protection systems were biased against women and created the notion of men being bread as winners and women as dependents, thus depriving women of the right to economic prosperity (Alber and Standing 2000, p. 13).
References
Alber, J & Standing, G 2000, “Social dumping, catch-up, or convergence? Europe in comparative global context”, Journal of European Social Policy, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 99-119.
Charmes, J 1998, Informal sector, poverty and gender: A review of empirical evidence, Background paper for the World Development Report 2001, Washington. Web.
Ghose, AK 2000, Trade liberalization and manufacturing employment, Employment Paper , Employment Sector International Labour Office Geneva. Web.
Samovar, LA, Porter, RE & McDaniel, ER 2009, Communication between cultures. McGraw Publishers, Boston.